Bashar Al Assad speech

“The Israeli barbaric assault on innocent Palestinian civilians has been horrific,” said Her Excellency Mrs. Asma Al-Assad, the First Lady of Syria, echoing the call as “Again, give peace a chance”.

Mrs. AL-ASSAD: “Three hundred million people live in the Middle East, of which 60 percent are under 25. So, we have an opportunity, and we have a challenge. The opportunity is to make sure that they believe in the future, that they see it as an exciting opportunity, that they feel that they’re able to contribute, to get involved …. The reality on the ground is increasingly going further and further away from that, and it’s not just the Palestinians in Gaza. It’s increasingly affecting all of us. And, for us to see people suffering is, if anything, weakening the voice of the moderates and empowering the voice of the extremists.”

Mrs. AL-ASSAD: “The Israeli barbaric assault on innocent civilians - innocent Palestinian civilians - has been horrific. … Gaza is a prison. It’s been a prison for three years. The embargo that has affected people’s lives has almost devastated the Palestinian community. Eighty-percent of the Palestinians in Gaza rely on food aid. They rely on humanitarian aid not just to live, but to survive. One million people in Gaza - Palestinian people - are without electricity. … This is the twenty-first century. Where in the world could this happen? … As a mother and as a human being, we need to make sure that these atrocities stop.”

Mrs. AL-ASSAD: Just imagine your children living in Gaza. How could that reality be? Let's talk through the scenario.

You wake up in the morning, you feed -- you give your children a glass of milk. Mothers in Gaza can't do that. But why? Because no milk gets through.

You send your children off to school knowing that they'll be safe, knowing that they're going to get a good education. Mothers in Gaza don't do that. Children don't go to school because it's not safe, because -- it's just beyond belief, to be honest.

You cook a meal. Mothers in Gaza can't cook. Why can't they cook?

Because they don't have access to fuel. They don't even have access to the basic food stuff (ph) that is required to get a meal together. So children don't eat.

Mothers -- think about when you put your children to bed at night. This is something I think on a daily basis. You put your children to bed at night and you expect to see them in the morning. That's a luxury that people in Gaza just do not have.

So what would it have been like for you having -- living under those circumstances? That is something that we just cannot survive and wait for it to stop.

CAL PERRY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Let me ask you this, are you sad? Are you frustrated? Are you angry? I mean, you have to go to these meetings, you have to go to these dinners. Is it difficult with what's going on?

Mrs. AL-ASSAD: It's been difficult to smile, and that's not just me, it's a lot of people that I'm meeting, it's a lot of people that I'm talking to. It's the U.N. agencies on the ground that are seeing some really horrific things.

The stories of the psychological trauma that we're not hearing on our TVs, we're not seeing on our TVs and we're not reading in our newspapers. It's something that's going to have a long-term effect on life not just in the region, but actually in the global community that we all live in, because when you see people suffering like this, it doesn't give you a sense of optimism, it doesn't give you a sense of hope. If anything, it pushes you to become more desperate, and when you are desperate, you have nothing to live for.

PERRY: Now, the Israelis say they're protecting themselves, right to self-defense, they're under bombardment of missiles, their children are under threat.

What's your response to that?

Mrs. AL-ASSAD: Lift the embargo. Lift the embargo. It will -- lift the embargo and engage in a peace process, a real process.

As you said, talk is cheap. It's not enough to say that we want peace.

What are you going to do to achieve peace? What we're seeing on our TV is not a step in the right direction.

PERRY: Do you have any optimism for the future, in the near future?

Mrs. AL-ASSAD: You have to remain optimistic. You have to remain -- you have to try and keep working towards your goals and objectives, otherwise you get sucked in with everything else that's going on. So, yes, you have to.

It's difficult, especially at times like this, that you have to keep looking in the direction that you want to go. You have to keep not just looking, you need to keep working towards it, to be honest. And you need to grab every opportunity, every platform, every exchange, every experience to work towards the agenda that is set, and that is peace.

DAMASCUS, March 21, 2009- Her Excellency Mrs. Asma Al-Assad honored in celebration of Mothers Day a number of Syrian Women who have eradicated illiteracy.

“Every mother among those present here has had the ambition and will to seek the best; the way of learning and knowledge is the best of the best for the individual well as for the society. Thus, every mother here has completed her role as a mother and a teacher simultaneously; where she has been able to bring the children up and to teach them,” said Her Excellency Mrs. Al-Assad.

“Illiteracy eradication is not the objective itself; rather it is the prelude and the means as to enable the individual to learn, improve capabilities, acquire skills in this age, where science and technology get developed quickly. We aim to achieve this goal with focus, confidence and determination,” added H. E. Mrs. Asma Al-Assad.

“The State in collaboration with Civil societies have been exerting great efforts as to eradicate illiteracy; important achievements have been realized,” said Mrs. Al-Assad expressing the hope as to eradicate illiteracy from all of Syria by 2016, now that the illiteracy was eradicated in the Governerates of Qunaitra, Sweida, Tartous, and to be eradicated by the end of 2009 in the Governerates of Hama and Dara’a.

“Motherhood is but infinite love, and responsibility throughout all our age. We all, women as well as men, have to take part in the construction, developing, and solidifying of our Homeland, and this is the objective second to none.” the First Lady of Syria, Mrs. Asma Al-Assad reiterated.

At the guest’s request, the fund structure, principles and work experience were introduced. Parties also touched upon the fund raising mechanisms.

After watching the film on fund’s activities, Ara Vardanyan answered Asma al-Assad’s questions.

Syrian first lady said, Armenians and Syrians are similar in that they both have big diaspora communities. Apart from the 18 million Syrians living in their homeland, there are 15 million others living beyond its borders. She said, Syrians often express willingness to make investments into their country’s economy, hence an institution like Hayastan All Armenian Fund may help realize a number of projects.

At the end of the meeting, Mrs. al-Assad invited Ara Vardanyan to Syria to introduce the fund’s activities in more detail.

Syria's First Lady has exclusively told Sky News she would welcome the Obamas to Damascus.

President Obama has offered the Muslim world the chance of a 'new beginning'

Asma al Assad's comments are the latest in a series of signs US Syrian relations are improving after years of tension.

"The fact is President Obama is young," she said, "and President Assad is also very young as well, so maybe it is time for these young leaders to make a difference in the world".

And she gladly envisioned welcoming Michelle Obama and her husband in a presidential palace in Damascus in the near future.

"I can see myself hosting them in Damascus in the old town, meeting with people, getting a sense of how we live, who we are and what Syria's about," she said.

The comments follow news America is to send an ambassador to Syria for the first time in four years. It follows President Obama's offer of a "new beginning" in relations between the US and the Muslim world in general.

Asma al Assad was born and raised in London and only moved here after marrying Syrian President Bashar al Assad nine years ago.

This week she is launching the latest phase in a youth movement called MASSAR, which is one of her great passions.

“MASSAR is about inventing the future… Young people will be able to contribute and determine the future direction of the country,” H. E. Mrs. Al-Assad said

"The Sun" has published an interesting article about Her Excellency Mrs. Asma Al-Assad, Syria’s First Lady, by Oliver Harvey; here are some excerpts from the article published on July the third, 2009:

Born in the west London suburb of Acton, she speaks with a cut-glass English accent and her childhood friends called her Emma.

Proof of that came yesterday when she invited President Barrack Obama to visit the Syrian capital, Damascus, in a move seen as a step to lowering tensions between the Middle East and the West. Mrs. Assad, recently named the most stylish woman in world politics by France's Elle magazine, is the wife of President Bashar al-Assad.

Mrs. Assad, 33, who holds dual British-Syrian citizenship, is seen as key to helping her former eye specialist husband as he struggles to reform the nation's stagnant economic and political systems.

Putting out the welcome mat yesterday for the US leader, Mrs. Assad said: "The fact is President Obama is young, and President Assad is also very young as well, so maybe it is time for these young leaders to make a difference in the world."

"I can see myself hosting them in Damascus in the old town, meeting with people, getting a sense of how we live, who we are and what Syria is about."

Mrs. Assad is the daughter of a wealthy Harley Street heart specialist. In Acton she went to a Church of England school and has a computer science degree from King's College, London. She worked as an economic analyst in the City and married in December 2000. She and President Assad now have three children. Yesterday she was seen in a Sky TV interview in jeans and tight top extending an olive branch to the West.

She spoke of reforms in Syria, adding: "What we are trying to do is make sure the progress we are making across the country is inclusive to everybody or as many people as possible, whether it is economic, political or social."

In doing so, this former London schoolgirl could bring some much-needed stability to this troubled region.